


Workaholics on Vacation

by Neverever



Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fights, M/M, Vacation, vacation gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 22:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19072027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neverever/pseuds/Neverever
Summary: The Avengers take a vacation for the first time together. Tony can't stop working and Steve can't say no to any team activity. It's not the vacation that Tony had hoped for.





	Workaholics on Vacation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marumo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marumo/gifts).



> A big thank you to Marumo who promotes Avengers Assemble whenever and wherever she can. 
> 
> And thanks to my beta, arms_plutonic, for reading this at short notice.

Tony blamed Clint. It was all his fault and Tony would not be swayed. If Clint hadn’t brought up vacation and Tony hadn’t agreed, Tony wouldn’t be sitting here all alone at the hotel bar nursing a fruity drink with paper umbrellas and a sad bowl of peanuts.

Guess this was just how Tony lived now.

It had all started during an ill-advised late late night conversation between Clint and Tony. They were watching television accompanied by the remains of a case of beer bought on the way back from an exhausting mission against Dracula. Tony probably should have been in bed, he ached all over and could barely keep his eyes open. 

Looking far worse for wear and bandaged in all sorts of places, Clint said, “We need a vacation.” 

Knocking back another less than adequate beer, Tony dangled the bottle from his fingers and mused, “Vacation. I could use a few days away.”

“A week somewhere warm and no aliens, that’s all I ask,” Clint continued.

“Hmmm, you’re talking resort.”

“A Motel 6 in Fort Lauderdale would fit the bill, honestly. Anywhere that’s not here.”

“Isn’t that something you could just do? Go on vacation, leave us a note?” Tony asked. 

Clint shifted in his chair, knocking over the several bottles at his feet. “Nah, has to be the whole group to be fun,” Clint firmly stated. “I can go whenever. But who would I go drinking with, you know? Nat always likes to explore places. I bet Bruce, when he’s not Hulk, can find his way around foreign cities, probably has a nose for the best cheap restaurants.”

An image of Steve in swim trunks flashed across Tony’s mind. “Yeah, we could definitely do that,” Tony agreed, with as much enthusiasm he could muster at 3 in the morning after drinking beer and a brutal fight against alien invaders. “We’ll talk to the team in the morning.”

~~~~~

The thing was that Steve deserved a fantastic vacation, a dazzling get away from it all where he could relax, catch up on his reading, and spend time with his boyfriend. Not that the boyfriend, one Anthony Edward Stark, would benefit at all from ensuring that Steve would have sun and waves and swim trunks. 

Scratch that. Of course Tony would benefit. He hadn’t managed that level of selflessness yet. No one had.

The team had settled down for a debriefing session with Steve about the fight with Dracula’s forces. Before Steve could start, Tony announced. “I’m taking the team on vacation. Where do you want to go?”

They all looked at each in confusion until Clint declared, “French Riviera.”

“French Riviera? Really? You?” Sam asked. 

“Want to see Tony put his money where his mouth is.”

“Disney World,” Sam countered. “I’ve never been.”

Thor looked speculative. “There is a hunting lodge in Asgard that I’ve been longing to visit --”

“Not Asgard,” Hulk growled. 

“Where you would go?” Thor asked, narrowing his eyes.

Tony had to head this off at the pass before Thor and Hulk got too far. “Natasha?”

“Somewhere warm and beachy.”

“French Riviera, I told ‘ja,” Clint said.

Steve suggested eagerly, “The French Foreign Legion jungle combat training course? I’ve been meaning to try it.” 

The team fell silent as Clint looked quizzically at Steve. Tony could see that Steve was dead serious about the Legion course. As much as Tony loved Steve, he wasn’t going to let Steve kill the team on vacation.

“I don’t think that we could book the Foreign Legion course,” Nat pointed out.

“Um, does Steve know what a vacation actually is?” Clint asked. “When was your last vacation? The ice thing doesn’t count.”

“I had a three-day pass back in early ’44,” Steve replied. 

Tony thumped the table. “Look -- the Fantastic Four can cover for us next month. We need to pick the week. And I don’t want to spend the time in New York.”

“Don’t you have travel agents working for your company?” Sam asked.

“Great idea, Sam.”

~~~~~

Two days later, Maria, the lovely travel agent dispatched to Tony’s office to book the Avengers vacation, smiled cheerfully at him. “How can I help?”

Tony steepled his fingers. “The Avengers are going on vacation. Everyone is free for one specific week next month. We can’t agree on anything except that we don’t want to spend it in New York. And apparently none of my vacation homes has enough bathrooms for the team.” Even if the team had decided to delegate the planning to a Stark Industries travel agent, they hadn’t stopped talking vacation since Tony brought it up.

Maria tapped a pencil against her lips thoughtfully. “Next month, that’s a constraint on what we can book. Will it just be 7 people or will there be additional?”

“Me. Steve. Natasha. Sam. Clint. Thor. Bruce/Hulk. That’s it.”

“Last minute luxury vacation, hmm,” the agent mused as she typed something into her laptop. “Something in the Caribbean or Las Vegas would be the easiest. Something more exotic would take time but we could pull it off.”

Las Vegas held a lot of fond but blurry memories for Tony. He had suggested it but had been voted down harshly by everyone not named Clint. Except Steve, who suggested a compromise of a couple of days in the city itself but then the team could go for a three day survival hike in Zion or the Grand Canyon. No, Steve did not get vacations at all. Sighing regretfully, he said, “Can’t be Las Vegas because apparently being close to National Parks gives Steve bad ideas. Like hiking in the desert.”

The agent bit her lip while furiously tapping on her laptop and pushed a stray lock of hair over her ear. She looked up at Tony and said, “I’ve found about three different resorts around Barbados. I’ll have to see what’s available and get back to you.”

“Great.”

He was going to get Steve into a swimsuit that resembled dental floss and out on the beach. Finally.

~~~~~

An hour into the trip down to Barbados on the corporate jet and Tony already had a headache. The latest quarterly R&D report had dropped when Tony stupidly had checked his work email and he was now neck-deep in writing notes all over the report and muttered under his breath about the consumer electronics division.

Until Steve nudged his feet and gave him one of those sweet smiles that melted Tony’s heart. “Vacation.”

“But Marketing doesn’t get what Hammer is trying and --”

“We could be on the way to Wakanda right now, and heading for that jungle training course. But you said we were going to unplug and unwind.”

Tony dramatically snapped his laptop shut and set it down firmly on the table between him and Steve. “What now?”

“You can listen in on Sam and Thor arguing about surfing versus parasailing.”

“That’s not an improvement.”

~~~~~

They landed in Bridgetown, where they were picked up by a local car service and taken to Sandy Lane resort. When the team off-loaded, Tony was thrilled to see their gobsmacked faces as they took in the immaculate tropical resort and the shining bright blue sea beyond it. Everyone, except Thor, who seemed to expect it. Well, he was an alien space god of a sort -- this could be a shack to him.

So far, so good. 

“Best place we could find on short notice,” Tony joked.

The hotel staff loaded up their luggage and followed them into to the lobby area. Tony swaggered up to the registration desk. “Tony Stark, party of seven.” He glanced over at Steve, who was reading the notice board with Natasha. The shorts looked good on Steve, showing off his nicely turned calves, one of the more underrated parts of Steve. 

The hostess frowned. She had clearly recognized Tony and her eyes widened slightly when she realized who was traveling with him. “Um, Mr. Stark, there’s a problem with your reservation.”

“Oh?” His eyebrow arched a little.

“We don’t have a record of it.”

“Ah.” He pulled up Maria The Travel Agent on his phone. “Maria, they don’t have the reservation. Want to talk to the clerk? Here -- Maria will clear it up.” Maria quickly opted to call in through the main hotel line than talking through Tony’s phone.

Tony and the team were ushered over to the lobby and plied with drinks as Maria and the hotel hashed out some agreement that would get Tony and the team into their reserved rooms. The seconds turned into minutes. Bruce was nodding off while Thor impatiently walked around the lobby. Sam, Natasha and Clint had a very quiet conversation that Tony couldn’t quite hear. Steve said nothing, but took out a book to read. Tony imagined what he planned to do with Steve once they got settled in their rooms.

It had now been a more than a half-hour wait. Which couldn’t be good unless their rooms weren’t cleaned yet.

“Sir?” the clerk prompted Tony.

“Yes?” 

“We’ve booked you the last rooms available at the Coral Reef Club, not far from here. I’m very sorry about this -- but the reservations never made it to our computer.”

They were politely bundled back into the car service van and hustled off to the Coral Reef Club. During the short ride, Steve led the team discussion about splitting up the rooms. They hadn’t been able to get single rooms for most of the team. Naturally, Steve and Tony would share a room. Nat and Clint called dibs for a room together. Which left Sam, Bruce and Thor to sort out the two remaining rooms. 

“Thor snores,” Bruce said. 

“What?” Sam said. 

“I do not,” Thor insisted. “I merely would do better with the single room as I am larger than you both.”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “I should have the single room in case I turn into the Hulk in my sleep.”

Sam snorted. “You have that under control. I should have the single room because, because, because. Um, because this is my first vacation with the team.”

“This is our first team vacation,” Bruce said. “Thor snores -- I’m not --”

“Then I must have the single room if I am difficult to room with,” Thor declared, as he seemed quite happy to win regardless of the cost.

“We’ll see when we get there,” Sam replied darkly.

~~~~~

From what Tony could see, the Coral Reef Club was an acceptable substitute. Beautiful hotel with inviting chairs under the palm trees and hibiscus and a crystal blue sky. They tumbled out of the van as staff unloaded their luggage and Tony sauntered into the lobby. 

“Mr. Stark,” the clerk at the desk greeted him warmly. “We’ve checked you in already and your rooms are ready.”

Steve waved them on as he was talking with a concierge about something. There was a stack of brochures and maps in front of him already and the team hadn’t even heard about their rooms yet.

They had only one ocean-facing room, the one with the two double beds. Clint played rock, paper and scissors with Sam in the hallway for it. Clint underestimated Sam, who claimed the room for him and Bruce. Thor ended up in a room with a king-size bed with a sliver of ocean view. Tony didn’t care much one way or the other. When he was in his room, there was only one view he was going to care about, naked Steve on the bed.

He unlocked the room and the bellboy followed him in with the luggage. The man unloaded the cart, Steve’s bag and backpack. “Where is my luggage?” Tony asked. He could not find his distinctive Louis Vuitton luggage anywhere on the cart or in the room. 

“Did they put it any of the other rooms?” he asked the man. Who shook his head.

From their room across the hall from Tony’s, Clint said, “Not in Nat’s or mine.” Standing in his doorway, Bruce shook his head and said “Not here either.”

Tony went into Thor’s room half-expecting to see his luggage there since Thor was the last resort. Thor already in his swim trunks shrugged. “Your luggage is not here.”

Stunned, he went back to his and Steve’s room. 

Steve was standing in the doorway. 

“My luggage,” Tony said. 

Steve shook his head. “That’s not the problem.” He pointed at the two double beds. 

Tony glared at the beds. “We could share one. That’s not a problem.”

“Both of us? In one of those beds?”

“What? You think we’ll break it?”

Steve sat down on a bed and bounced a couple of times. “Maybe not,” he said doubtfully as the bed creaked ominously as he stood up. “Want to go to the beach?”

“I have to find my luggage first.”

\---

The resort staff was exceedingly helpful and concerned about Tony’s missing luggage. But no one could find a single trace. And since Tony was not keen on spending the next four days in a black t-shirt and jeans, he needed a new wardrobe. The concierge sent him to the local stores. Which were nice, but all Tony could find in his size were cheap polyester t-shirts, shorts, and two pairs of swim trunks in a very unflattering red color. At least the underwear was in cotton and the sandals could be best described as “dad fashion.” He also picked up a new razor, toothbrush and other necessities. 

On the way back to the hotel, he fielded a call from the VP of Sales about the troubled product launch of the latest Stark tablet. Still no sign of his luggage in the room. Steve had left a nice note about meeting them at the beach. He prayed that there would be no paparazzi at the resort. Not that Tony was famous for his fashion choices, but he did have an image to uphold and these swim trunks weren’t it.

Tony found the team camped on the beach under an umbrella, the usual collection of towels, sunscreen, cans of sparkling water on a small wooden table next to two wooden lounge chairs. Scanning the ocean, he could see Steve, Sam and Thor bobbing up and down in the water playing some game with a ball. Natasha and Clint were sitting in the sand. 

Bruce was returning with snacks from the snack bar. “Chips?” he offered Tony.

Tony took the bag. “What’s the plan?”

“Clint booked dinner reservations.” Bruce checked his phone. “We have to head in about a half-hour -- showers, and all that, then dinner.”

“Oh. Okay.” A vague wave of disappointment hit Tony that he’d missed the fun.

“There’s a dress code at the restaurant.”

Please, no. Tony didn’t have the clothes. “Tie and suitcoat?”

“No shorts.”

“Of course. I have to find pants. I’ll meet you there.”

~~~~~

Tony just missed Steve when he returned to their room with a pair of pants and the dress shirt that the concierge team had found for him. He didn’t want to know where. He ran a comb through his hair, threw clothes on and wriggled into the borrowed shoes, which pinched.

When he got to the hotel restaurant, the team had been seated and Steve had saved a spot next to him for Tony. Steve looked alarmingly radioactive red even under the low lighting. “Are you okay?”

“We put in the drink and appetizer orders but haven’t seen a waiter since then,” Sam said.

“Yeah. Steve?”

Steve flinched when Tony touched him. “Sunburn,” he said. “I’ll be fine. Forgot to use sunscreen.”

The food eventually arrived while the team discussed the plans for the next day. Tony didn’t hear them because he had to step out to talk to Randy from Operations about an emergency at one of the Stark Industries plants. When he got back, Steve told him that he, Tony and Sam would be going on an island tour. Natasha and Clint were planning on a spa day. Tony hadn’t pegged Clint as a spa guy. Bruce was meeting with a colleague from graduate school and Thor had booked a surfing class.

“We’ll get to sleep in?” Tony asked Steve on their way back to the room. 

“The tour is in the afternoon, so yes.” He smiled at Tony.

Tony was all set on snuggling into bed with Steve after their long day. He rubbed aloe gel gently into his miserable boyfriend’s already peeling skin. “Steve, are you going to be okay?”

“It will wear off in the morning,” Steve explained. “I’m sorry -- I’m not up to anything tonight.”

Tony moved to kiss Steve, who leaned away. “Hurts,” Steve explained wistfully.

“It’s just the first day -- we have four more to go before we go home.”

~~~~~

In the morning, Steve’s skin was back to glowing pink and unburnt as promised. Steve had even let Tony sleep in before prodding him awake for breakfast. 

“You look happy,” Tony said when he came out of the bathroom spruced up and ready to leave.

“I’m not peeling or itching all over. It’s better than last night.”

Clint and Natasha met them outside their room. “Good thing about breakfast -- we don’t need a reservation. Thor went down to grab us a table,” Clint said. Natasha was on her phone negotiating her spa appointment.

“Oh, it’s a breakfast buffet,” Steve said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm as they entered the restaurant.

“Shouldn’t you love buffets? The whole eat as much as you want deal?” Tony asked as they picked up plates.

Steve grimaced. “I always feel that I’m taking more than my share.”

Thor was standing on the other side of the buffet, a mound of food on two plates. Obviously, Thor had gotten the memo. 

“There’s a whole kitchen back there cooking. We’re not going to run out of food,” Tony said.

“They’ll stop at some point and I don’t want to take food from other people.”

Tony patted his arm. “You’re overthinking this, babe. Benefits of the 21st century and at a resort -- we’re not going to run out of food.”

Steve didn’t reply, but kept picking through the buffet carefully making his choices. They returned to the table where everyone else was eating. Tony appreciated the carafe of fresh coffee on the table. 

Except for Clint. The last time Tony had seen him, Clint was surrounded by a group of women at the juice and fruit bar. Thor was talking Steve and Sam into parasailing with him. That’s when Tony’s brain kicked into overdrive about some improvements he could make to the suit, specifically the joint coverings. Grinning, Steve nudged him. “You’re drawing all over the tablecloth.”

“What?” Tony had apparently commandeered some crayons while he was deep in thought. “Oh.”

“Sam and I are going with Thor. I’ll be back for lunch and we’ll head out for the tour.”

“See you then.”

~~~~~

Steve was on edge while they waited to be seated for lunch. “You didn’t eat enough this morning,” Tony suggested. He was probably running on fumes by now after parasailing for three hours and the all-night healing.

“I usually have snacks around,” Steve explained. He studied the restaurant and the line of people waiting to be seated. “It shouldn’t be long,” he added hopefully.

“We have to meet the car service at one thirty,” Sam said. “If we get seated now, we’ll have forty-five minutes for lunch.”

Steve took a deep breath. “We should go wait for the car. I can find something in the lobby to eat.”

“You need to eat,” both Sam and Tony said.

“A hangry Steve is not a fun Steve,” Tony added. 

“But the tour --”

Sam was checking his phone. “It doesn’t matter. Tour’s off --”

“What happened?” Steve asked.

“The app never booked it.”

They decided to get a car for a drive anyway. Natasha joined them. “No appointments at the spa. Clint’s off with the women he met this morning.” She pulled out a map. Let’s go to Hunte’s Gardens.”

A half hour into the trip to the Gardens and it dawned on Tony that he hadn’t had a single moment alone with Steve since they got on the corporate jet except for when they were asleep. Not what he had planned on.

~~~~~

When they got back to the hotel, Bruce herded them over to the restaurant. “I got us a reservation -- it’s hard to get a table for seven.”

“Six. Clint won’t be joining us,” Natasha said.

Bruce sighed. “That --”

Thor came up from behind them and threw his arms around Bruce and Sam. “Surfing was great! Now we must try the catamaran!”

Bruce explained, “Steve and Thor were talking about booking a catamaran trip tomorrow.”

“All day?”

“Most of it. I think. Not sure if it’s a good idea for me to be on a boat.”

“Catamarans have two hulls if that helps,” Sam said.

“It does not.”

Steve looked around the restaurant and specifically at the table they were assuming was theirs. “When are we getting seated?” Steve asked.

“The hostess said any minute,” Sam said.

“Okay.” Steve didn’t seem okay with it. 

He couldn’t possibly be hungry, Tony thought. They’d had a large lunch. The walk through the gardens wasn’t demanding at all. And Steve never got like this back in New York. He was usually far too patient for his own good and the last to complain.

They were seated and dinner was excellent. Then Natasha declared, “Movie night in my room.” Everyone was excited about the idea, Natasha had lined up popcorn and snacks and extra chairs. Clint would be back in time to join them.

“One movie, Steve, one movie and then we go back to our room,” Tony warned him.

“Yeah, that’s a plan,” Steve agreed with a smile. “I wonder if we could get more bread?”

~~~~~

“Tony, wake up, wake up. Time for breakfast.” Steve shook his shoulder. 

“What time is it?” Tony slurred. He couldn’t wake up, didn’t want to. They’d stayed until 3 am in Natasha’s room and Steve had carried him back to theirs. He’d even tucked Tony into bed.

“6. We have to get to the pier by seven thirty to get the catamaran.”

“Don’t wanna go. Got too much work,” he mumbled. He snuggled harder into the bed. No way in hell was he going to leave the bed for a boat ride. “Need sleep.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. See you later. Wear sunscreen.”

Steve kissed his forehead. “I’ll take pictures.”

Without Steve around, Tony made some design update to the joint coverings in the suit for better protection, sent in his comments on the R&D report, and did some analysis of Squadron Supreme’s latest attacks. The breeze from the window reminded him he was on a Caribbean vacation. 

“Hmmm, we do get wi-fi at the pool.” He could work from there instead.

Down at the main pool, Natasha pointed to the empty chaise next to her. Grateful, Tony put down his tote with his laptop, water, and sunscreen and lowered himself gingerly into the chaise. Natasha raised an eyebrow as she watched him settle in. 

“What? You can’t be seen with me in these swim trunks? Aren’t you supposed to be at the spa now?”

She sighed. “They’re booked, again. Might be an opening tomorrow. If I’m that lucky.”

“This is all Clint’s fault we are even here and we didn’t see him all day yesterday since he took off with those women from Boston,” Tony complained.

“It didn’t work out if that matters to you.”

“He did come back for movie night.”

“And we’ll see the rest of the team tonight at dinner,” Natasha said.

Tony took out his laptop. Wi-fi was okay enough for what he was doing. No proprietary work, of course. Just wrap a couple of projects and he’d be done. 

“Are you working on vacation?” she asked.

“Steve’s off having fun without me. I can put in a couple of hours of work.”

“You’re not any better at this than Steve.”

~~~~~

Natasha and Tony waited for their friends outside the restaurant. The place was busy as usual. Except the busyness stemmed from the slow service and kitchen. 

Steve took Tony’s breath away. He was wearing that blue silk shirt Tony had given him at Christmas and he was glowing with his new tan. Tony was going to find out where Steve had tanned, every possible spot. After dinner, as his grumbling stomach reminded him. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, feeling the developing sunburn on his shoulders from his pool time.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he said to Steve. 

“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” Clint declared. 

“I hope we get seated soon,” Steve said. He looked warily at the hostess stand.

“You should have joined us, friend Tony,” Thor declared. “The ship was fast, the ocean calm, it was fine sailing.”

“It was fantastic,” Bruce agreed. “I didn’t get sick once.”

The hostess seated two other large parties. As Sam filled Tony in about the boat tour, Tony noticed Steve going up to the hostess stand. He talked briefly with the hostess and then looked at what had to be the reservation list. Steve returned to the team. “We’re next,” he said.

“Was there any doubt?” Sam asked.

They waited another twenty minutes as the hostess sat another two parties. She came up to Steve, “Sir, your table is ready.”

She seated them in a half-empty backroom away from the main floor. “Oh, I forgot your menus.” Then their waiter came by, took their drink orders and went away. 

The team talked about the day, not noticing that they hadn’t seen their waiter for over twenty minutes. A quick glance around the room showed that none of the other tables had been waited on either. Storm clouds were gathering around Steve the longer they waited. He finally got up and went off somewhere. He came back shortly and sat down.

“What was that, Steve?” Clint asked.

“I asked someone about our waiter.”

Bruce went back to his story about Thor on the catamaran. Tony almost regretted missing the trip, especially when he admitted to spending the morning working. 

Their waiter came. “Would you like to order drinks?”

Steve sat up straight and interrupted. “We would like menus and the drinks we ordered a half-hour ago. And bread.”

The waiter gulped in fear and fled the table.

“What the hell, Steve?” Tony asked.

“Way to go, terrorizing the wait staff,” Clint added.

“All I did was ask about our menus, bread and the drinks.”

“You used the Captain America voice.”

The waiter came back with menus and the drinks. The order was completely wrong and the drinks warmish and watery. Steve fastened an eye on the waiter. “No bread?”

“The kitchen -- right.” The waiter left and brought back the manager.

The manager sized up the situation and had immediately pegged Steve as the person to be concerned about. “I understand there’s been an issue --”

“We have been sitting here for over forty-five minutes. We were seated late after three parties were given tables after our reservation time. We were never given menus. Our drink order --”

“Is on the house. I assure the rest of the meal will go well and without a hitch.” The manager gave them their menus.

“I think those people were waiting too,” Steve pointed out. Tables of interested people had noticed the manager at theirs.

The manager nodded. “We’re on it.”

Outside the restaurant, Sam suggested that they all go down to the beach for the nightly bonfire. “Perfect night for it,” he said. 

The team, except for Tony, agreed to go. “Uh, Steve, didn’t we have plans?” Tony asked. His plan of ripping Steve’s shirt out and doing unspeakable things in their room appeared to be slipping through his fingers. For the third night in a row.

“Plans?” Steve asked, looking confused.

“Yeah, you and me.”

“But the team --” He looked back at Sam and the rest, who were standing a short distance away.

“You’re my boyfriend and we haven’t spent any time together since we got here!” Tony snapped. 

“You were the one who didn’t want to go on the catamaran.”

“Vacation is about sleeping in.”

“Vacation is about not working. You’re always working -- I see you on the laptop or on the phone all the time.”

“You haven’t been around. It’s like you can’t be alone with me.” Tony angrily waved his hands in the air. “So just go, Steve, hang out on the beach or whatever. I’ll be back in the room by myself.”

Tony turned around and walked towards their room.

“I’m going on a hike,” Steve said grimly. He turned on his heel and left.

\---

So that’s how Tony ended up at the hotel bar. 

Running his hand through his thick hair, Tony leaned into the bar, nursing his scotch, wondering where things had taken a turn for the worse. He was sunburnt, wearing cheap unflattering clothes, tired to the bone, lacking speedy wi-fi, and now was also probably down one boyfriend. Or whatever the hell Steve was to him. Or had been.

He tossed the glass back and forth between his hands, torn between wanting to return to his room and calling the plane to go back home. It was late at night, real late, and he wondered when the bar would be closing. He pondered if he could sleep in the lobby. 

“Hey,” Steve said softly as he slid into the empty bar stool next to Tony. “This seat free?”

“Depends,” Tony replied.

“Oh?”

Tony turned to face a Steve, who resembled a kicked puppy. Was not a good look on him. “You know, we genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropists have our standards. We don’t let just anyone sit next to us.” 

“Really? Standards?” Steve signaled to the bartender to order whatever beer was on tap. He also pushed his backpack closer to his stool with his foot. Must have been a long hike, Tony thought.

Tony sipped his scotch. Then gave Steve an appraising look. For someone who went on a hike, he looked very well put together with a delicious scent of aftershave. “Well, you just squeak over the acceptable line. So you can stay.”

“Feeling generous tonight?”

“Maybe,” Tony sighed with a huff. His anger at Steve was draining away, but Tony wasn’t so sure he was ready to let Steve off the hook. Or if Steve was still angrily simmering. 

Steve studied his beer. “About earlier ….”

“Yeah, whatever.” He drank the rest of his scotch. He knew in his bones how this was going to go. Funtimes with Steve were over. Better to rip off the band-aid and just get on with it. “If you want to break up with me, just get it over with.”

Steve nudged him with a shoulder. “What was that? Why would you even think that?”

“Oh, I don’t know -- that fight might have been a tip off that maybe this thing between us isn’t a good idea,” Tony said miserably.

“People in relationships have fights. Doesn’t mean that they are going to break up.” Steve put his arm around Tony’s shoulders to draw him closer. “I had no idea that you were so angry.”

“You couldn’t tell?” Tony huffed. He wasn’t going to give into Steve’s sparkling blue eyes. “You, sir, have no idea what vacations are for.”

“Probably. I’ve never had one. Been working since I was eight.”

Tony had heard about Steve’s first job selling newspapers on a corner. “Vacations are easy. You don’t do anything. You relax, soak up the sun, stay in bed for a ridiculous amount of time.” He laid his head on Steve’s shoulder.

“But every time I’ve seen you the past two days, you’ve been on your laptop or taking a call or your mind is somewhere else. The first night I woke up and you were working out equations at the desk.”

Tony opened his mouth and shut it. “I admit it -- I’m terrible at vacations too.”

“If you can’t turn your brain off, I can’t stop needing exercise or food.” Steve started to rub circles into Tony’s hand. “And we did come with the team, so I can’t just ignore them when they ask me to go with them. They’re our friends.”

“Why not?” Tony pouted.

“Tony.”

“Okay, fine, I admit that we should done vacation on our own. Just a long weekend with just you and me.” Tony finally smiled. “So many places to go.”

“I could do a long weekend,” Steve offered. “But any longer than that, I’ve got to go on a hike or a long run. Something to burn up the energy.”

“I would need time to work on my ideas.”

“We could work it out on longer vacations.” Steve kissed Tony’s head and squeezed his hand. “So we’re good here?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“To be clear, I’m not going to break up with you over a little disagreement like that.”

Tony didn’t have any answer for that. His whole thing with Steve was so different from any other relationship he’d ever had that he was in uncharted territory. He could see Steve’s points though. “So what’s the plan, now?”

Steve chuckled low. “If you’re not too sleepy I was going to propose a walk on the beach.”

Tony slid off his chair. “Let’s go. Don’t you need to take that backpack back to the room?”

Steve threw the backpack’s strap over his shoulder. “Part of the plan. You’ll see,” he said mysteriously.

They walked out onto the beach and the dark starry sky took Tony’s breath away. Then Steve nudged him towards a secluded area, not visible from the hotel. He took out a couple of beach towels from the backpack and set them on the sand.

“Steve?” Tony asked, as he got a whiff of Steve’s plans.

“Just you and me,” Steve said as he tugged Tony down to the towels and into his lap.

They kissed a couple of times, just pressing lips together, each one growing a little heated. The ocean lapped the shore and the moonlight flooded the beach. Just them alone wrapped up in each other. Tony melted into Steve.

Steve slid his hand into Tony’s shorts. Tony pulled away. “I’m thinking you were thinking about sex on the beach.”

“Yeah,” Steve said, chasing Tony’s lips for more kisses.

“Based on our track record so far, I say we take this back to the room. Something’s bound to go wrong and I’m not sure I’m up for getting sand in sensitive spots.”

“Are you sure?”

“I love you, Steve, and I want you to fuck me.”

“That can be arranged.”

When they got back to their room, Tony helped Steve push the two beds together and arrange the sheets and blankets to cover the seam between the beds. “We should have done this earlier,” Steve confessed.

“It’s only a good idea if we don’t break the bed.”

Steve stripped down to his skin and pulled Tony tight against him. “Let’s try our best.”

~~~~~

They didn’t break the bed. They languidly made love, kissing and caressing and avoiding Tony’s sunburn, until they were satiated and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

And then they blessedly slept in, unwilling to get out of bed until they were both good and ready. They ordered breakfast in and Steve finally had a satisfying breakfast. The pillow fight and the long handsy shower together went a long way to restoring that vacationy feel.

Tony sat in the hotel robe and ate his last piece of toast as they lounged on the bed. “We’ve got two days left.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Maybe a walk on the beach? Then lunch and sit by the pool? Just us?”

“Just us.” Steve smiled and kissed Tony’s nose. He froze when Tony’s phone rang. “Guess you have to get that.”

Tony turned the phone off. “Nope. We’re on vacation. Work can wait.”


End file.
